Back to school in Livermore / Price of admission may be antibiotic

Elizabeth Bell, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, April 21, 2001

2001-04-21 04:00:00 PDT Livermore -- Livermore High School students may not be allowed back in school on Monday unless they prove they have taken an antibiotic to ward off meningitis and related diseases, according to health and school officials.

on Monday offering antibiotics to Livermore High students and staff only. The Health Department held clinics at the high school on Wednesday and Thursday, at which it gave out close to 1,600 doses of antibiotics to students, parents, siblings and community members who felt they may have been exposed to the disease.

Livermore has had three cases of meningococcal disease since March 30. One was diagnosed as meningococcal meningitis, which affects the fluid covering the spinal cord and brain, and two were meningococcemia, which infects the bloodstream. Both are caused by the same bacterium.

President Trump addresses nation after mass shooting at Florida SchoolWhite House

Livermore Unified Assistant Superintendent Bob Bronzan said the Health Department has recommended the district not allow students back to school without proof of taking an antibiotic. Of the school's 1,800 students, 1071 took the antibiotic at the school clinics, as did 58 out of 139 staff members, according to public health spokeswoman Sherri Willis. No one knows yet how many of the Livermore High students got antibiotics from their family doctors.

Bronzan said the district hopes that most students will voluntarily take the antibiotic. Students need written parental permission to take the drug.

The Health Department has not offered schoolwide antibiotics at East Avenue Middle School, although many parents have gotten antibiotics for their children through their family doctors.

The Health Department still has not identified the link between the three cases.